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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24569548">Steal the Breath From My Lungs.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPGirl/pseuds/OTPGirl'>OTPGirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Erik and William [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Friday - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Erik has a nightmare, M/M, Strangulation, William get's hurt due to it, but NOT the fun kind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:47:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24569548</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPGirl/pseuds/OTPGirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik comes home after a rough mission and is very withdrawn. When he has a nightmare William tries to help him, but ends up getting hurt in the process.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Erik Herbert/ William Herbert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Erik and William [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Steal the Breath From My Lungs.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Whenever Erik came home from missions he was usually in one of two moods. The first is a bright, cheerful mood that causes Erik to sweep William into his arms and spin him around their house, usually a laugh in his voice as he dips William with a kiss at least once. This means that the mission went according to plan and everyone made it out alive with no significant injuries. </p><p>The second mood is much more somber. When he’s in a mood like this Erik pulls William onto the sofa and holds him close and William lets him, able to tell that Erik desperately needs the physical contact. This mood usually means that an agent didn’t make it back from the mission, or was severely injured and Erik talks about them with a somber voice. </p><p>There is a third mood, and it’s William’s least favorite to see. It’s only happened once or twice, but William’s heart feels like it broke a little each time,  Erik will come home, his face blank and his eyes almost empty. He’ll just sit there, not talking, not wanting to be touched. William has no clue what happens during those missions, and he’s sure he doesn’t want to. It takes Erik a while to come out of one of those moods, but once he does he pretends like nothing is wrong, not wanting to talk about what happened. </p><p>Unfortunately, today is one of the third type. By the time Erik makes it home, it’s after midnight. William’s been dozing lightly on the sofa waiting for him, once he hears the front door open and Erik come in quietly he sits up, stretching his arms out to the side with a soft groan. </p><p>“Welcome home love, how did it go?” He fights back a yawn as he speaks. Erik doesn’t respond, he just presses a light kiss against William’s cheek and goes into the bathroom, the door closing firmly behind him. William sighs and reaches out to scratch Bella’s head when he hears the shower turn on. </p><p>“We just need to give him some space, he’ll come out of this. He always does.” Bella licks his face and William chuckles slightly. “Come on, let’s go to bed.” He’ll join us when he’s ready.” </p><p>He gets up from the sofa, making sure to put the pillows back in order before he heads into the bedroom with Bella following close behind him. He quickly gets changed into a comfortable set of PJ’s and pulls the covers back. William hears Bella jump up and make herself comfortable and he settles in next to her, rubbing her belly as she stretches out next to him. </p><p>The shower stops a few minutes later and Erik comes into the room, quickly pulling on a loose pair of sweatpants before climbing into bed. Usually, he would pull William close to him, taking full advantage of the opportunity to be close to his husband. Tonight, however, Erik curled in on himself on the far corner of the bed, not touching William or Bella at all. William knows that Erik needs the space to process whatever happened today. However, it still hurts him to see the person he loves acting so unlike himself. </p><p> “I love you Erik, and I’m here if you need me.” William lightly assures him. Erik doesn’t react at all, not even the slightest twitch. William sighs and settles in, resting his hand on Bella.<br/>  <br/>“Love you too.” He hears a soft, almost inaudible reply. William starts to slip off to sleep, confident that when he wakes up in the morning, everything is going to be okay. </p><p>William wakes up with a start a few short hours later. His heart is hammering in his chest, and he doesn’t quite know why. He lays there for a moment, his eyes staring up at the ceiling blankly, trying to figure out what woke him up. </p><p>Everything is quiet for a moment, aside for the sound of Bella snoring, of course. Just as William is about to roll over and try to get back to sleep, he hears something. It’s a soft noise, a quiet whimper that definitely didn’t come from Bella. William sits up and looks over at Erik.</p><p>Erik is curled in a tight ball, his breathing quicker than usual. William can tell immediately that Erik is having a nightmare. William moves closer to him, close enough that he can feel the body heat coming off of the other man, but not so close that they are touching. </p><p>“Erik, it’s okay. You’re home now. You’re safe. Everything is okay.” William speaks, hoping that his voice will be enough to wake Erik up, or at the very least, calm the nightmare that he is clearly having. </p><p>“N-no… please! Stop!” Erik cries out. Without thinking, William reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“Erik, baby-” He’s cut off by Erik suddenly springing into action. The room spins momentarily, and the next time William can make sense of what’s going on, he’s on his back, Erik straddling him with an angry, yet far away look in his eyes. Worst of all, Erik’s hands are wrapped firmly around William’s throat, cutting off his airflow. </p><p>William can hear Bella barking off to the side, but he doesn’t really focus on that. He claws at Erik’s hand, trying to break Erik’s grip so he can getaway. Unfortunately, Erik’s stronger than he is, and William has no success. </p><p>“Erik… please” He manages to choke out, his vision starting to go grey around the edges. Suddenly the hands are gone, and William faintly hears Erik make a noise like he’s in pain. He takes as big of a breath as he can. And then another. And another. It hurts, and extreme burning feeling spreading through his throat as his lungs try to take in as much oxygen as they can in as short a time as possible, coughing violently as he breathes. </p><p>“Will? Oh my god, William! Are you…” Erik quickly scrambles off of him and William is able to push himself up into a sitting position. Erik hesitantly reaches a hand out and softly touches William’s neck with a single finger. He flinches away from the touch, letting out a whimper as he does, and Erik pulls his hand back like he was burned. </p><p>“William, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I-”</p><p>“You’re bleeding.” William winces at the rough sound of his own voice and he can see the confusion in Erik’s eyes.</p><p>“What?” William reaches out and touches a large gash in Erik’s left arm that is dripping blood. It’s clearly a bit mark and William is able to quickly figure out that Bella must have bitten him. That was probably what shocked Erik out of the nightmare and back to himself.</p><p>“Don’t worry about that, we need to get you to Dr. Tudor.” Erik quickly moves around the room, grabbing a pair of clothes for both himself and William out of the drawers. Bella is checking on William, sniffing and pawing at him. William scratches her behind the ears in an attempt to try to calm the dog down. </p><p>“Erik… I’m fine, don’t-” William tries to calm his husband, but he’s cut off by Erik turning to him, tears in his eyes. </p><p>“No, you’re not fine. I almost-” He cuts himself off and angrily wipes tears away as they start to fall. “You almost died. You could still die because of this. We have to get you to Dr. Tudor.” </p><p>William gives in and slowly gets out of bed. As he places his feet on the ground and stands up, the room starts spinning and he stumbles slightly. Erik reflectively reaches out to catch him, but pulls his hands back the moment William is stable enough. </p><p>The second they’re both dressed Erik rushes them out of the house and into the car. He drove them to PEIP HQ quickly, not looking at William the whole time. If he brakes a few traffic laws along the way, well, who could blame him?</p><p>Dr. Tudor pulls William into an infirmary room the second her eyes land on him, telling Erik to wait outside. She quickly checks the inside of his throat, making sure that it’s not too swollen for William to be able to breathe. Once she seems satisfied that he wasn’t about to stop breathing, she spreads something over the bruises he knows are already forming and wraps a bandage loosely around it. </p><p>“William,” she says softly as she pulls a chair over so she can sit across from him as she talks. “I hate that I have to ask you this, but did Erik do this?”</p><p>“Yes, but it’s not what you think. He-” </p><p>“You don’t need to defend him. If he’s hurting you-”</p><p>“He’s not.” William’s voice is as firm as it can be given the circumstances. “Erik has never hurt me. This was honest to god an accident. He was having a nightmare, and I tried to wake him up. I must have startled him and he lashed out. That’s all.” </p><p>Dr. Tudor looks at William for a long time, looking for any sign that he might be lying to cover for Erik. </p><p>“Okay. If you say that’s what happened, then I believe you. But if I see you with injuries like this again-”</p><p>“You won’t. But I understand.” He’s glad that she was looking out for him, but it wasn’t necessary in this case. “Will you look at his arm?”</p><p>“His arm?” She was very clearly confused and William remembered that Erik had put on a dark long-sleeved shirt. Hence, it was more than likely that Elizabeth didn’t see the injury.</p><p>“Bella bit him, that’s what managed to fully wake him up. It looked like he might need stitches.” She stands up and sticks her head out. William can’t hear what she says, but a few seconds later, Erik comes into the room. He hovers by the door for a second, his eyes trained at the ground. </p><p>“Sit.” Dr. Tudor points at the chair that she had been sitting in a moment before. He does as she says and sits down, finally looking at William. His eyes go directly to the bandage around his throat. William reaches out and grabs his right hand, squeezing it softly.</p><p>“You keep getting hurt because of me.” Erik sounds devastated. Dr. Tudor tells him to roll his sleeve up and he does so, pulling his hand out of William’s grip to roll up his left sleeve. She starts working on the bite, disinfecting it, and getting ready to stitch it up. </p><p> “Neither time was your fault, love.” William tries to reassure him but Erik shakes his head.</p><p>“They are. Nick only went after you because of me, and now this. My hands were wrapped around your throat. How can you possibly think this wasn’t my fault?” He doesn’t even seem to notice that Dr. Tudor has started closing up the bite. </p><p>“Nothing that Nick did is your fault, and it will never be your fault. And with this, something clearly happened today, something bad. You were scared and having a nightmare and your brain registered me as a threat. That’s not your fault and I’m fine.” William reaches out and cups Erik’s face and the other man leans into it, closing his eyes as he does so.</p><p>“I… the mission today went so wrong.” Erik’s voice is quiet and he keeps his eyes closed as he speaks. “There were six of us on the mission. About an hour or so into it we realized that someone was missing. To make a long story short they had been quietly taken from the group at the start and were being… questioned for information about our mission.” William can tell by the pause in his voice that the questioning was violent. A few tears start falling from Erik’s eyes, still clenched shut. <br/> “They didn’t share anything, so the people who took them got angry. We found them just in time for the agent to be killed. We took out the people who hurt them, but if we had just noticed earlier…” He trails off and a sob forces it’s way out. William looks over at Dr. Tudor, who is finishing taking care of Erik’s arm. She cuts the string and moves away, nodding at William. </p><p>The second he’s sure he’s not going to disrupt Dr. Tudor William surges forward, wrapping his arms around the upset man in front of him. Erik tenses for a moment and William is worried he’s going to be pushed away, but instead all the tension drains from Erik’s body. He melts into the hug, burying his face against William’s shoulder and lets the tears flow freely, his body shaking as he sobs. </p><p>William doesn’t say anything, just bringing a hand up to run his fingers through the other man’s hair and letting him cry. Erik always tries to stay strong and not show William when he’s upset about things that happen while he’s on missions, but William can tell that this is different.</p><p>“It’s okay love, you can let it all out.” William speaks as softly as he can, ignoring the pain in his throat. He presses a kiss against the top of his head and tightens his hold for a moment before completely letting go. He pulls back just enough that he can rest his forehead against Eriks. </p><p>“I’m sorry to interrupt boys, but I want to let you know that I am going to keep William here for the next twenty-four hours, just to make sure the swelling doesn’t get worse.” Elizabeth says firmly.</p><p>“But I have classes to teach tomorrow.” William weakly protests, turning to look at her. </p><p>“You’re not going in.” She leaves no room for argument, but that doesn’t mean William isn’t about to try. He opens his mouth to protest but Erik draws his attention by lightly tracing his fingers across William’s neck. </p><p>“She’s right Will, you shouldn’t go in tomorrow. They can get a sub.” Erik’s voice is soft and William can tell that this means a lot to him. He just sits there for a moment, letting Erik do what he’s doing. William swallows heavily and Erik freezes before quickly removing his hand, clearly mistaking what William did for a sign of fear when it was anything but.</p><p>“Okay, I’ll send the principal an email.” He gives in, sending Erik a small smile, before turning back to Elizabeth. “What about Erik? Is his arm okay?”</p><p>“He’ll be fine, as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid to pop the stitches.” She gives Erik a playful glare, to which Erik responds with a wink. </p><p>“I’ll be back to check on you in an hour. If you suddenly find yourself having a hard time breathing, or you need anything else, press the call button, and I will be here.” She waits for William to confirm that he heard what she said before leaving the room. <br/>The moment the door is closed William is on his feet, pulling Erik up after him and towards the infirmary bed. </p><p>“Will, I don’t think this is such a good idea.” Erik protests. </p><p>“Erik, please. It’s been a long day, a long night for both of us. I just want to be held by my husband.” William pleads softly, trying to convince Erik to get in the small bed with him, but Erik shakes his head. </p><p>“I would love to, but I can’t trust myself right now. But I will be sitting right there, in that chair, watching over you as you rest.” He pulls William’s hand up to his mouth and presses and kiss firmly against his knuckles. </p><p>William’s heart breaks slightly. He knew that Erik wouldn’t just be over what he had accidentally done, not so soon. But he didn’t blame Erik at all, and he only wishes that his husband could see this the same way he does. </p><p>He settles into the infirmary bed, trying not to let on how disappointed he is. Once he’s comfortable, he lets his eyes slide shut, suddenly feeling very tired as the events of the last hour or to catch up with him.</p><p>“Hey Will?” Erik says hesitantly, almost as if he’s nervous about disturbing William.</p><p>“Hmm?” He hums, not opening his eyes.</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>William smiles.</p><p>“I love you too.” <br/>  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Come talk to me on Tumblr:<br/>Ijustwantjohnmcnamaratobehappyok</p></blockquote></div></div>
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